Thanks to TV shows like Gossip Girl, NYC Prep, and I am sure there is something I am missing (Ricki Lake’s Charm School, haha), Bobbi Brown’s fall collection is “Ivy League”. It seems many people are obsessed with the prep school elite. Bobbi Brown is giving us the “college” aged version. Prep is in and the pun is on “ivy”. The focus is on pencils, very cute, writing=pencils. It’s a back to school color collection. It’s very neutral and contains functional, every day products.

EYES: There is a Creamy Eye Pencil in 9 colors. It’s a smoky, smudgy pencil that retails for $20. It isn’t the most exciting product that I have ever seen but I do know that it is something that would get used daily by many of us. There is the Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow in Gold Leaf. This is a pearly khaki gold highlighting shade,very pretty. There is a Metallic Eye Shadow in Bash. This is a lovely emerald green shimmer. I do love this color as an updated smoky eye. There is the Eye Shadow in Ivy, a lovely matte deep green. All shadows go for $20.The Long-Wear Eye Liner in Forest Shimmer Ink has been launched. This is a long-wearing gel liner in a pearly deep green. I love the color and the formula. It goes for $21. From my experience these deep greens look amazing on brown and hazel eyes and the very rare violet.

LIPS: There is the Lip Crayon. I love this product. I love applying lip color with a pencil. It creates definition and usually the formulas are longer wearing. This product comes in 6 shades and retails for $22. Lip pencils are usually leaning towards a matte side so The Crystal Lip Gloss has been relaunched and layered over the Lip Crayon. The gloss goes for $17.

Overall, the look is very polished and neutral. It is made “young” by the forest green smoky eye. I like the look even though I am not a fan of “prep” but at least the company has made the trend more appopriate for adults. That is my beef with the prep school stuff, a bit pedophiliac. At least this is “of age”. Anyways, this collection has some great everyday products. The green eye would look great on all hair colors, even redheads! Green eye makeup looks great on brown and hazel eyes and sometimes makes blue eyes look even cooler. Sometimes when I wear this shade it almost makes my eyes look lilac. I say if you are a redhead/brunette with brown eyes then go and try this collection or if you have a deep skintone. This is a collection for you.

This L’Oreal Wear Infinité Eyeshadow in Forest is an OK compact. The colors are sheer but very buildable. I purchased this because I have been searching for a truly matte shade of green. These are greens with absolutely no shimmer. That being said, these are a little chalky but they do work. You can see them swiped on my hand below (ignore my shimmer, it appears to just ooze out of my pours). One is a light sage green and the other is a dried herb green. I usually wear the lighter shade all over the lid and the other green in the crease. I would pair it with a peach or nude blush and a little bit of a peach lipstick or gloss. This was a good everyday look and it went nicely with my dyed red hair. I imagine that this compact would wear nicely on natural and dyed red heads with pale skin. These colors are pretty sheer and I don’t see them showing up very boldly on medium to deep skin tones. I think these colors are a nice neutral without being brown, so that being said it could go with all hair colors. I would say that this is a good compact for lighter skin tones and I think it would look nice paired with brown or hazel or violet eyes.

This duo retails for under $6 and is available at drugstores and Ulta. I’ve used this duo to recreate a “classic” look of Ann Blyth. I usually wear this duo how I describe Ann Blyth’s look.

The picture on maccosmetics.com does not do this product justice at all. It is described as “frosted tarnished gold”, the picture online looks like an antiqued gold, something on an heirloom locket. It looks tame and like it would wear nicely on anyone. It looks like a perfect super shimmery neutral and like the perfect “with a tan” shade. Above the pigment is smeared on my hand dry. It is a really vivid metallic. I wouldn’t describe it as a gold at all. It is more of a melange of rust, gold, blue, green, teal pigment particles. It only looks “gold” under bright light and then it isn’t an antique or tarnished gold but a 24K flake spray paint gold. I like this color. It wears nicely with blues, greens, and orange. It is very metallic and looks good even alone worn as a wash (applied like this, it looks very green on my skin). It is just that this color doesn’t fit the description, so buyer beware if you are purchasing online or sight unseen.

I love MAC pigments, they can be worn anywhere mixed into a gel or cream base, applied wet or dry. I do find that if I apply this like a traditional shade like with an eyeshadow brush worn with other powder shadows, it does crease. This often happens with super shimmery products. After a day’s wear it is creasing big time even with an industrial strength base 🙂 I haven’t mixed this one into a gloss/gel base because I think it has too much green and blue to look OK on the lips or cheeks. I have been using this on the eyes only.

It retails for $19.50 and comes in a generous sized container. I am sure I will be throwing this out before I can use it all up.

I really like this NARS Eyeshadow Duo. Rated R has one of the best greens in the world in it. It is a bright acid green with tons of gold shimmer. It is loud and wears nicely with any shade from eggplant to chocolate brown. It looks alot like MAC Eyeshadow in Bitter. However, this green has tons of gold shimmer. This gives it depth and just makes it down right fun. The blue isn’t too bad either. It is a royal blue with tons of silver shimmer. I do prefer it over many of MAC’s blue shades. My only complaint is that like so many blues, this one turns a bit green on my eye lid. I have to wear a primer to keep it looking just as vivid as it is in the compact.

These two colors do wear nicely together but I do prefer to keep them separate. I find that they “fade” or look “dull” when worn together. I love to wear the acidic green all the way up to the crease with a nude champagne shimmer under it. I like to wear MAC Chrome yellow in the inside corner of the eye and under the bottom lashline. I love to wear MAC Orange or in the crease. And I like to top it off with a nice black liquid liner. Trade the Orange out for MAC Hepcat and you have another great look. Sometimes I like to wear this green shade alone as a wash. Or for my more “neutral” look. The same champagne shade under the green with a deep dark chocolate brown in the crease with smoky brown liner.

The blue looks nice mixed with greens or other blues. I like to wear it with a frosty white eyeshadow underneath. Like Clinique Sugar Sugar or MAC Crystal Avalanche. I wear the blue all the way up to the crease. I like to blend a deep blue in the crease like MAC Plumage. I line with navy or black liner. It is a nice look. A bit Liz Taylor as Cleopatra. Pair with super nude matte lips and it looks wonderful.

I feel like for such “bold” colors, I get my $32 out of it. These shades wear nicely with others that I own. I mean what else can you mix a hot pink shadow with? It can be purchased at beauty.com.

I have blue eyes and khaki or olive eye makeup really doesn’t make them stand out but I do love the look because it works with my complexion and dyed red hair. I love olive eyeshadows are dark skintones and ladies with brown or hazel eyes. If you have a bit of violet in your eyes it will make them pop. Plus, khakis and olives look great on redheads including the au naturale redheads that I am so jealous of. It is stunning and easy. It can be applied like a “wash” and it looks wonderful. It makes a great smoky eye without using the much too harsh black that most people reach for. Some of my favorite olive shadows include the following:

Pick Your Own Singles:Cheaper-What I am wearing in the pic above is mark I-Mark Custom Pick Eyeshadow in Vintage Khaki. It is a deep khaki infused with tons of gold shimmer. It is long wearing even without a base and it retails for $4. The case is sold separately. More Expensive-I also like Prescriptives Colorscope Eye Color inSage. It looks alot like the mark one. It retails for $14 and the case is sold separately.Both of these look nice paired with nude shimmers or golds as a base.

Shimmer Singles:Cheaper- I like L’Oreal Eyeshadow Single in Golden Olive which is a medium olive shade that retails for under $5. One of my all time favorites is Milani Powder Eyeshadow in Golden Bronze which is a green with pearly gold and it retails for under $4. I have went through many of these, have I mentioned they look great on redheads? Even the natural kind. More Expensive–Lorac has an Eyeshadow Single in Olive which is a nice medium olive shimmer that retails for $17. Another really nice one is MAC Eyeshadow in Greensmoke which is a deep dark olive shimmer that retails for $14.50. There is also Sumptous Olive which is nice but a bit more khaki and with less “green”. Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Designer is an awesome super shimmery olive with silver shimmer. It retails for $16.50. For a more brown but still green shimmer, Dior 1-Colour Mono Eyeshadow in Khakis is very shimmery and nice. It retails for $25.

Matte : Cheaper– L’Oreal Wear Infinite Eye Shadow Duo in Forest is nice. It has a matte soft clover green and a matte medium olive. It retails for under $6. More Expensive– This is a bit of a matte, Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Dill. It is a deep olive with minimal gold shimmer. It retails for $16.50. Make Up For Ever has a matte olive in Olive Green 47 and it retails for $19. I find that there aren’t many matte shadows on the market in this shade. I must say that olives really do benefit from shimmer. It seems to add depth and keeps the eye area from looking too “dead”. I have all three mentioned above and I like them. They don’t make me look like a rotting zombie corpse.

Duo/Sets:Cheaper– L’Oreal Eye Shadow Quads in Landscape and Eva’s Violets have nice olives and other coordinating shades. These retail for under $7. Revlon 12 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in Spring Moss has a lovely khaki and three other nice greens. It retails for under $7. More Expensive– YSL 5 Colour Harmony for Eyes in Garden of Eden has a nice olive and four other great greens for $56. DuWop Smoke in Olive Branch makes a great olive smoky eye and retails for $28. It comes with a gel liner and shimmery eyeshadow.

Eyeliner: Cheaper– Sephora Slim Eye Pencil in Olive is OK for the $5 price tag. I also like Covergirl Outlast Smoothwear All Day Eyeliner in Olive because it is so smooth. It retails for under $7. Another nice one is Avon Ultra Luxury Eye Liner in Khaki. It retails for $5 and creates a soft line. More Expensive– MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Forever Green which is an olive shimmer that retails for $14.50. It has a really smooth formula and wears for hours! One of my favorite liners ever is the one I am wearing in the pic above. It is Lancome Artliner in Starshower. As you can see, it is an olive that is so dark that it is almost black with lots of gold shimmer. It retails for $28 and looks awesome just worn alone. It is way more fun than your basic black and it is much more flattering for hazel eyes. Black can be too harsh on most skintones as well and it can be aging! I also like Dior Waterproof Crayon Eyeliner in Iridescent Khaki. It is very long wearing and retails for $26 and comes with its own sharpener.

I love the new Guerlain Spring 2009 makeup collection. Yes, the “look” really resembles YSL and shu uemera, but I really like the bright green and coral products. They are fun and remind me more of summer. I am often inspired by nature. I’m looking for lipsticks the color of mushrooms and hair color the shade of weeds. The best shades are found in nature. Every trip to the forest leaves me looking for the next perfect hue to be found in clothing and makeup. Well, Olivier Échaudemaiso also agrees. Because he has created a “rich collection drawn from an eccentric, eclectic garden of Eden, a colorful kaleidoscope of nature’s prettiest, most sensual colors and organic delights. With his exotic palette he concocts colors that stir optimism, awakens purity and arouses a desire for paradise that hibernates with every woman.” I couldn’t b.s. it better myself.I love the packaging for this look. Compacts have ferns on them. Those aren’t that “exotic” here in the Pacific Northwest but they were back in Tennessee. I love ferns. They are wild and my new Northwestern life is overrun with them and I still can’t seem to get enough.

LIPS: There are three new KissKiss Glosses. I love the fragrance and the feel of this formula. It comes in three lovely and wild shades: Orange Interdite which is a vivid sheer coral, Cerise Tenation which is a sheer red, and Pomme du Désir which is a fun and sheer shimmery lime. These retail for $29. It has the same packaging as the original but now the top is a metallic fern green. There are four KissKiss Maxi Shine Lipsticks in Candy Shine, Honey Shine, Grenade Shine, and Baby Shine. I love this formula and all of the colors are lovely. They make the lips look smooth and plump. These go for $30. There are four KissKiss Lipsticks in Flushy Beige, Forever Beige, Corail Passion, and Rose Miami. These are all nice and have a nice texture. They retail for $30.

EYES: I am wild about the limited edition Ombre Éclat Eyeshadow Quad. It comes in a lovely green metallic compact designed by Hervé Van der Straeten. It is a work of art. The shadows are stunning and shimmery in shades of lime green, coral, chocolate brown, and bubblegum pink. They each have an amazing fern leaf motif in a pearly lime green. It retails for $58 and I can’t stop thinking about it. The Ombre Éclat 1 Shade Eyeshadows have been relaunched. They are lovely and have an amazing texture. Ombre Éclat Eye Primer is available too. It is a “nude” long-lasting primer with skin nourishing ingredients. It somehow manages to control oil but provide moisture. It comes in a nice metallic “black” case. It retails for $34.

For once I have found something with packaging that I like and product that I like. I’m loving the shadow quad. I love corals and greens because they just seem to “work” for me. Plus, I just love Guerlain. It is my favorite makeup company. I am a loyal fan. I can’t help it.

I love the Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer Tinted Lip Balms because they actually have pigment. They are a great lipstick replacement. They have that minty tingle of the original Burt’s Bees lip balm. I’m a lipstick kind of gal. However, my lips usually get really chapped in the cold. Pigment rich red lipstick does not cover chapped lips very well. Instead it looks like smearing pigment on to the shedded skin of a Bearded Dragon. Everytime my lips get all messed up looking, I use an intensive treatment at night and during the day I use one of these tinted balms. Sometimes I use clear balm but most of the time I feel my lips need some color. Nutmeg is a reddish orangey coral with tons of gold shimmer. It looks great with green eye makeup, bronzey eye makeup, and coral eye makeup. Since my hair is dyed red, this color really works well. It’s a slim tube Plus, this stuff is pretty cheap (under $6) and can be bought pretty much everywhere.